Last week, SteelOrbis reported that an early October flat rolled steel price increase had started to take hold. Yet sources close to SteelOrbis say that current prices have not changed in the last week, and they may even have “some flexibility” within the general range of $46-$47 cwt. ($1,014-$1,036/mt or $920-$940/nt), ex-mill.
“The big guys can still do a little better,” a source said, “but the buyers who are only placing orders for limited tons may be paying a bit more.”
Looking offshore, traders continue to report that US import CRC in the domestic market from Vietnam, Egypt is being sold at around $41.50 cwt. ($915/mt or $830/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports, while US import CRC in the US domestic market from South Africa and Mexico continues to trend in the range of $43-$44 cwt. ($948-$970/mt or $860-$880/nt), DDP loaded truck in US Gulf coast ports and FOB Texas, respectively.
Service centers, however, have been offering deals on in-stock items as a means of thinning their inventories before the close of the year. The year-end “fire sales,” sources say, are already starting to happen as service centers in some regions want to minimize their year-end inventory tax.
Also of note are the results of this week’s US midterm elections, as the Democratic party now has the majority in the House of Representatives. The question as to whether the new Congress will work to curb Section 232 tariffs, or negotiate more favorable trade deals with the European Union, is still unknown.